Clothespin



y 1950 H. R. F. STENDER 2,508,628

CLOTHESPIN Filed June 10, 1946 INV TOR. 0\ Hermann R. E S/ender BYfilmmv Patented May 23, 1950 OFFICE- CLO'IHESIPIII Hermann R. F.Stender, San Francisco; Callfi' Application Junelll, 1946, Serial No.675,515- H This invention relates to improvements in clothes pins.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a clothes pinwherein the clothes suspended thereby do not contact the supportingclothes line.

A further object is to produce a clothes pin wherein the clothes aretightly gripped and therefore cannot be pulled from the line by the windor accidental contact therewith.

A still further object is to produce a clothes pin which is economicalto manufacture, easy to use and one which will in no way injurematerials or the clothes suspended thereby.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my pin as the same would appear in use.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the clamping wire.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of my pin showing in full lines the firststep in assembly, and in dotted lines the second step.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing the manner in which the pin isbrought into engagement with the line, and

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line5-5 of Fig 1.

In fastening clothes to a clothes line it has been customary to placethe clothes over the line and to then secure them to the line by thepinching action of a so called clothes pin. With this procedure theclothes contact the line and are soiled by rubbing against the line,particularly during the whipping action caused by wind.

It is also true with the pinching type of clothes pin that the clothesmay become detached from the line as the pin works loose.

I have, therefore, devised a clothes pin which obviates both of thesedifficulties.

In the accompanying drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration isshown a preferred embodiment of my invention the numeral 5 designatesthe body of my clothes pin which may be formed of any desirablematerial. This body is elongated as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and hasits upper end bevelled as shown at B, and is also provided, adjacent tothe bevel, with a clothes line engaging recess 1. The bevel 6 extendsfrom the upper end of the body 5 downwardly to the 1 Claim. (Cl. zt-I37) At thelower end of the body 5 there is provided a forwardlyprojectingportion 8 between which and the main portion of the body is a.

7 transverse slot in. The rear face B 'of the body is provided with atransverse recess Illa located at a greater distance from the bottom endof the body than the slot I0. Extending vertically upward from the upperwall of the recess Illa. is a slot I I, and extending left from theupper wall of the recess Illa is a second slot l2.

In addition to the body 5 there is provided a. spring wire clip havingone end bent to form a rectangular loop of a size to fit over theprojection 8 with the bottom portion l3 of the loop fitting beneath theprojection B and the upper portion l3a engaging in the slot Ill. Oneside of the loop extends upwardly as at I31) and then trans versely toprovide a portion l5. From the portion l5 extends a side portion l4rebent at its upper end as at I6 and from this rebent portion extendsdownwardly a second side portion I! from the lower end of which extendsa transverse portion 18 parallel to and spaced above the portion l5. Therebent portion l6 extends above the upper end of the body 5 and is bentbackwardly as shown in Fig. 4. When assembled the wire member has theportion l3a fitted in the groove III, the portion l5 fitted in thegroove 12 and the portion l8 fitted in the groove H.

At C is shown a clothes line and the clothes pin is applied to the lineby bringing the convex side of the bend at It into contact with the lineC swinging the pin to bring the line into the position shown at C andthen pushing the pin upwardly so that the line engages the bevel,springs the line across M and I! away from the body 5 and thusallowingthe line to engage in the recess 1 as at C.

To apply an article of clothes D to the pin the loop at the lower end ofthe wire is swung forwardly, an edge Of such article is laid over thebody part 8 and the loop allowed to springback as in Fig. 5.

The movement of the line with respect to the clothes pin as a whole isindicated by the arrows of Figure 4.

It will thus be apparent that the pivotal action of the wire will causethe two horizontal portions of the wire l5 and ill to effect a twistingor tensioning action on the upper end 16, thus placing tension on thelever M, which will in turn hold the line in the recess 1 and at thesame time will hold the loop firmly against the clothes on theprojection 3.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and thatvarious changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement ofparts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the subjoined claim. Having thus described myinvention, I claim: A clothes pin having a body of rectangular crosssections and having front and rear faces, said body having a bevelledupper end extending downwardly and forwardly from the rear to the frontface, the body having a transverse recess in its upper front part belowthe bevelled end and having a transverse slot at its lower front portiondefining a projection at the lower end, said body having a transverserecess at its lower rear portion more remote'from the lower end of thebody than said slot, said body having a transverse slot extendinginwardly from said last recess and a second transverse slot extendingupwardly from said last recess, and a spring wire member having aU-shaped upper portion including a pair 01' parallel portionsterminating upwardly in a connecting portion and at their lower endshaving transverse portions seated in the slots extending 4 from thesecond recess, said upper portion extending above the upper end of saidbody for engagement with a line held in said recess, said member havinga portion extending downwardly from one of said transverse portions andterminating in a rectangular loop having an upper side engageable in thefirst mentioned slot and a lower side enga-geable beneath saidprojectionat the lower end of the body.

HERMANN R. FLSTENDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,879,192 Gottschall Sept. 27,1932 2,078,423 Stender Apr. 27, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date15,542 Great Britain of 1904

